HE has left behind the dowdy wardrobe he once wore for daytime talk
show Pebble Mill. These days, he sports designer sunglasses,
paint-splattered jeans and cowboy boots.

He drives a purple BMW convertible and is having a swimming pool
added to the existing hot tub at his six-bedroom mansion in LA's
Hollywood hills.

Yes, life is good for Scots TV and radio presenter Ross King.

Ross said: 'People at home might not realise I live over here,
but I am the Hollywood correspondent for This Morning, do six shows a
week for Radio Clyde and go behind the scenes on shows such as Will
& Grace and CSI for Living TV.

'On Friday nights for Radio Clyde, I do a live show called The
King in LA.We have interviews and guests, all based around my life
here.'

Ross, 42, who lives with his beautiful wife Charlie, has secured a
green card and is the voice of America's most famous credit card,
American Express.

Now he is taking on US-born contenders for the job of becoming the
next weather presenter on one of Tinsel Town's major news channels,
KTLA5.

The daily audition slot has become a regular feature of the
breakfast news bulletins, leading up to a grand final next Wednesday.

Ross hopes to make the most of the exposure, already promising
viewers regular Sean Connery impressions if he gets picked.

Ross said: 'So much of my work in LA only gets shown back in
Britain.

'A friend told me KTLA were looking for a new weather guy.

'I didn't think any more about it, then, I realised it
was a good way to get your face seen. And KTLA is a good station, so I
sent in my tape. I don't really know an awful lot about the weather
but I love live TV, it's what I was brought up on.

'The weather people over here are so different from the
Michael Fish-types we grew up with at home.

'It's more glamorous, and also a completely different job
- they get involved in the news presenting over here.

'Thousands of people entered tapes.

Ratings have been terrific. I think it's wonderful TV. I get
caught up myself, watching the other contestants.

'I am not nervous because I didn't enter thinking I was
going to win. I just wanted a different crowd of people to see me and
think, 'Oh, he would be quite good for something else'.

'I think the accent probably helps because it makes you a bit
different.

'On the other hand they may think, 'We don't want
some British guy presenting the weather'.'

If he doesn't get the job, Ross says he has plenty to keep him
busy. He said: 'I am the voice of American Express, which gives me
work every couple of weeks.

'I have my production company and I have six radio shows a
week.

'I have also been in movies out here. The biggest ones were
Half Past Dead, The Day After Tomorrow, the big blockbuster movie this
summer, where I played a BBC reporter, as well as some independent
films.

'It's a hard, hard town, but I have been lucky. I have
been able to do all the different things I wanted to do.

'In Britain, you are almost not allowed to do anything apart
from that one thing you became known for.

'As a kid I started off as an actor, then moved onto to
DJ-ing. And then I wanted to host a TV show and people said I
couldn't because I was a DJ.

'Why can't you?

'When I went back from TV presenting to acting, and then
musicals, people were asking, what are you?

'I'm not saying I do them all well, but why can't
you do lots of different things? People in Britain are too
narrow-minded. There is so little negativity in America.

They just let you go for it.

'It is that land of golden opportunity.' However, Ross
denies wanting to be famous in America.

He said: 'Fame is never something I sought. Up to a point my
face will be more well-known because of the weather audition.

'But it's not like when I was a kid in Scotland and very
quickly I became quite famous.

'It's not going to be the nightmare scenario. It's
not like when you are a big, huge star. I have never hankered after
that. I only ever do things for fun. That was the way I was brought up.

'I came out here for a long holiday and then I got a movie,
and it all happened.

'I miss my parents, David and Isobel, and my sister, Elaine,
but I don't think I will ever go back. I mean I never say never -
for my whole life I have been the kind of person who keeps their options
open - but I don't think I will.

'I love it here, it's good fun.' Ross has created
his own film production company, Fearless, with Scottish script-writer
Paul Pender and American Julian Stern, whose credits include Baywatch.

They are planning to make two films in the next year. One, written
by Pender and called Forty, will be shot in Scotland.

Ross said: 'We have not attached the talent to the script yet
but we want to use young British actors.'

Before leaving Britain, Ross appeared in two musicals, Summer
Holiday and The Rocky Horror Show, where he took over Jason
Donovan's role.

But, as Ross says: 'The thing that people remember me for is
that show called Pebble Mill, which I hosted for five years.'

CAPTION(S):

LIVING LIKE KING: Ross,; above with wife Charlie and left
auditioning for the weather job, says he loves life in LA - and the
opportunities it brings to broaden his career horizons - so much he
doesn't think he'll ever come back to stay in Britain

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